An intercept try by Jean de Villiers saved the World Champion Boks from a humiliating defeat against Wales on Saturday, with the experimenting by Peter de Villiers with Ruan Pienaar and John Smit having gone pretty smoothly. The Springboks won 20 – 15, with the halftime score 13 – 3.

“De Villiers’ try, converted by Ruan Pienaar, made it 20-3 with 28 minutes to go – 28 anxious minutes for the Springboks as replacement flyhalf James Hook slotted four penalties, Jaque Fourie was yellow-carded after the Boks had received a general warning for killing the ball at the breakdown and Smit spent a few minutes off the field having a cut on his nose stitched up.

Fortunately, though, the Welsh did not possess the necessary skill or accuracy to really make the Springboks pay and they were able to survive a scrappy performance to get their tour off to a winning start.

After opening the scoring with a superb try, completed by Adi Jacobs, as early as the fifth minute it did not seem as though the Boks would have too much trouble putting the Welsh away, especially when Ruan Pienaar, who had converted the try, added a penalty to make it 10-0 after just eight minutes.

However the Boks did not kick on against a team having their first outing since losing two tests to South Africa in June.

Frustrated by referee Alain Rolland’s failure to keep the Welsh on their feet and deal with the loiterers at the breakdown (a concession the official did not allow the Boks it must be said) were a long way short of the form they showed in running up 50 points against the Wallabies in August.

There was little sign of the Springboks’ usual forceful and abrasive tackling, as they allowed themselves to be handed off or baulked, and their retention of the ball was awful – allowing the Welsh to remain competitive and surf the favours being handed out by referee Rolland.

In the end, though, there were two big positives the Springboks could take out of the game; Wales, after all, being the Six Nations champions.

Ruan Pienaar was assured and steady at flyhalf, contributing a four-out-of- four goal-kicking record, while John Smit passed his tighthead examination with flying colours as the Boks consistently outscrummed their opponents – including a vital wheel when they needed possession in the last two minutes.

Bakkies Botha managed a solid 40 minutes, however concerns about the lack of form of Pierre Spies, in particular, and to a lesser extent Juan Smith, Conrad Jantjes and Bryan Habana were again in evidence.

Scorers were:

Wales (3) 15: Leigh Halfpenny kicked a penalty and James Hook four penalties.

South Africa (13) 20: Tries by Adi Jacobs (5 min), Jean de Villiers (51 min). Ruan Pienaar kicked two conversions and two penalties.“

Source: sarugby.com

Pic: rugby365.com